Dr Martha Fulford of McMaster University

Here is Dr Martha Fulford, infectious disease specialist at McMaster Children’s Hospital. She is saying things like maybe we should worry less about the Omicron daily case count and remember instead just how mild the symptoms are. She wants to get past the paranoia. How did you get so smart, Doctor Martha?

Elon Musk Time’s Person of the Year

That all-around guy Elon Musk, electric car maker and SNL guest, has been named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. For those under 30, Time used to be published every week.

Lickable TV? Um, maybe prefer a burger

Hmm. Most of us would probably prefer a burger.

Car flips onto sidewalk at Yonge and Richmond Sts/Derek CRaig@DerekCraiggers

A two-vehicle collision at Yonge and Richmond Sts Sunday caused a Kia SUV to flip onto a crowded sidewalk injuring eight pedestrians, police report. Two of the injured, described as brothers, remain in critical condit6ion. One child is among the injured. A driver from one of the vehicles was trapped. Both drivers apparently escaped serious injury. The vehicles were heading west on Richmond when one swerved into the path of the other causing it to flip onto the sidewalk. CTV

UK commentator Dr. John Campbell speaks on Boxing Day about Delta deaths and hospitalizations versus those of the Omicron variant. He offers specific numbers. It’s a seemingly important distinction and one that for unknown reasons is getting overlooked or lost in Ontario government public information.

Desmond Tutu has died in South Africa at the age of 90.

Prime Minister turned 50 on Christmas Day

Justin Trudeau then

Many will have forgotten or perhaps never knew that Justin Trudeau was a Christmas Day baby. Saturday he turned 50.

Why the James Webb Telescope is such a big deal

You can still call CAA or other service you know (Photo: Donny Jiang/Unsplash)

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation has issued a clarification about its new Tow Zone Pilot. Many people had wondered whether the government’s scheme to bring law and order to the towing madness prevented them from calling the Canadian Automobile Association. You can, says the ministry. If not, simply call 511 and an authorized tow company will be sent to you. For all emergencies, call 911.

Tow Pilot on QEW and 400 series in GTA

Many members

What appears to be a beat-up, over-frozen and rather dirty snow sculpture of some sort was sitting in the middle of Hanna Rd opposite Bessborough School Wednesday. By late afternoon, it had been rolled over to the west curb. FB

Cars gone from driveway in 30 seconds

A release Wednesday says 53 Division’s Major Crime Unit has raided two automotive repair garages in Toronto and Brampton in connection with the overnight theft of cars in Midtown Toronto. Two men, Ahmed Shkais, 25, of Toronto and Adam Rafferty, 30, of Brampton, are held on theft and possession charges. The five-month operation was known as Operation Clone. Officers seized a large cache of equipment, tools and electronics used to facilitate the theft of motor vehicles.

Some of them are electronic key fobs from different vehicle makes and models, lock picks, fake licence plates, electronic diagnostic and key fob reprogramming tools, tracking devices and a radio frequency scanner. Detective Daniel Kraehling said: “The quality of technology, and the amount seized, speaks to the level of sophistication and technical skill employed by thieves during the commission of motor vehicle thefts within the city. With tools such as this and the knowledge that thieves possess, vehicles can easily be stolen in under 30 seconds.”

The first text message ever sent has been sold at a Paris auction for the equivalent of $120,599.70 in Canadian funds. Of course, “the first text message” isn’t quite as tangible as an old painting, for example, so the digital world has created something called a non-fungible token that is said to guarantee that no one can copy your rare treasure. Or so they say.

Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Keiren Moore says there are 4,600 cases of Omicron infection known in Ontario as of Tuesday but just 15 such patients have been admitted to the hospital. Further, he said, zero Omicron patients have so far been admitted to an ICU. Moore said Omicron cases seem to be doubling every two or three days and he still expects what he called an “exponential” growth of such cases. He said that he himself has arrived at no conclusion about the ultimate severity of Omicron but there are reasons to be optimistic. He said there are no children in Ontario in pediatric ICUs and when asked he said that the government (Cabinet) will have to decide as to whether classrooms will reopen after New Year’s.

Intensive care in the hospital, COVID-19

All Ontario is keeping a watchful eye on ICU occupancy as a gauge of just how serious the current wave of Omicron variant infection will be to both the health care system and to the personal health of each citizen. The government issued a new case total of 3,453 Tuesday and calculated a seven-day rolling average of 3,153 today up from 1,400 a week ago. Admissions to intensive care units are up by a single patient to 165 from Monday. This indicates that the 600-bed capacity of all ICUs is at 27.5 percent usage. A common and perhaps reasonable response to Omicron is that ICU capacity rather than gross numbers of cases is a better measure of just how sick anyone may get if he/she contracts the infection.

A poll by Forum Research on what Ontarians plan to do for Christmas was done on December 14. But since then six days have passed. Those days have been chock-full of official and unofficial concern (both thoughtful and wildly fearful) about the Omicron variant. Urgent appeals to stay home have been sounded and renewed lockdowns put in place. The poll is here. Your guess is a good as ours on how the flux of public thinking runs on whether to visit grandma or whatever.